I get the general feeling from people that FMJs are worthless for use in a real application like hunting or home protection. I'm wondering what others think about using FMJ for hunting and home protection IF one did not have access to buying other bullet types. Also, other than the softpoint, what other bullet is available for the AR15.

Well personally I wouldn't go as far as to say it's worthless but there are definitely better choices for hunting. As far as home protection is concerned it's all about shot placement in my mind, not the weapon or the ammunition it fires. While over penetration may be an issue I wouldn't hesitate to use a .223 FMJ for home protection.

As far as bullet types there is a plethora of choices; jacketed hollow points, ballistic tips, Vmax, glasers, etc... Just depends on what you're using it for and how much you want to spend. Steel core may be cheap but get ready to use some elbow grease getting your bore clean.

Try to make sure if your weapon is .223 you avoid 5.56 ammo, as they are a little different in a few ways.

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After reading more into it, it seems that the FMJ is more 'deadly' to a human than a hollow point because it creates more holes to bleed from, but the hollow point transfers more energy into him which may stop him from coming at you. But, if you are shooting an AR15 from 50+ feet away, I'm not sure if him coming at you is much of an issue, so the FMJ should be good.

For varmints (ground hogs, crows, coyotes, feral gerbils, etc) even the FMJ will work- temporary wound channel is bigger than some of the animals- resulting in a devastating wound.

However, for larger animals (deer, antelope, hogs) IMHO, the .223 is just too small (and not legal in several states) If you DO use .223, an expanding bullet is really called for. Pop a deer anywhere but the head with a FMJ .223, and he MAY die- but it is going to be a half mile away from where you shot him.

Home defense? Depends on where you are. I would have a hard time REACHING my neighbor's house with a .223. However, if you are in a more urban setting, just about ANY centerfire rifle has a lot of penetration.

I hand load all my .223 rounds. I do about a 50-50 split between 55 gr FMJ's and the plastic tipped bullets (Hornady V-Max, or Sierra BlitzKing).

My "theory" is that the FMJ's will do a lot of damage to a body at any range, but unless you hit a major bone or organ, will zip right through at close range, and (maybe) not cause an immediate knockdown.

I use the Nosler ballistic tip bullets exclusively in my .30-06 for all deer and larger size game. These plastic tip bullets lliterally explode deep internally in a white tail deer. Many times I have not had an exit wound (or had several small exit wounds) and the deer usually drop dead immediately.

Now, I know the .223 ain't an '06, and I would not hunt deer sized or larger game with with the .223. I have never had an opportunity to hunt smaller game, so I have not "proven" how the plastic tip rounds work in the .223.

My SHTF thoughts were that the FMJ would be the round of choice for disabling a car full of BG's - assumed good penetration through the car sheetmetal. I think (but do not know) that the V-Max/BlitzKing would be more effective on "soft" targets.

Steelcore .223/5.56 rounds (eg: SS109) have more punch to get through things which may be handy for certain applications. Soft-tips are probably better for hunting. Frangible might be better for home defense (but I'd almost never suggest using an AR for in-home defense, though).

Of course, a garden-variety .223 fmj easily beats having nothing at all.

Yes, it is. The OP needs to learn more about the impact characteristics of FMJ ammo. The Hague Convention aside, there are good and valid reasons, 'Why' every major army in the world uses FMJ ammo. (And, 'Why' the US military usually does!)